United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

1 November 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

'United States healthcare funding to Africa tripled under Obama' (Afrique en Ligne)
(Pan Africa) The US has nearly tripled its health care funding to Africa, helping to
increase the number of people receiving the life-prolonging Anti-Retroviral Drugs
(ARVs) from 700,000 to 2.5 million people, a senior US official said.

Inside the White House conference call on child soldiers (Foreign Policy)
(Pan Africa) The White House spent an hour Friday afternoon trying to convince angry
Hill staffers and human rights activists that "naming and shaming" governments that
recruit child soldiers, rather than imposing Congressionally-mandated sanctions on
them, will better address the problem.

Midterm elections could give a boost to Africa – if the Democrats lose (Christian
Science Monitor)
(Pan Africa) Next Tuesday’s polls could deliver a big setback to Obama: loss of control
by the Democrats of at least one house of Congress. With the Republicans back in
command, Obama will face new pressure on his administration to intervene directly in
African affairs, and in ways the president has so far avoided.

Al-Qaida rising in Africa, experts warn (UPI)

(North Africa) Control over several North African states teeming with al-Qaida
affiliates is slipping away from authorities, an official warned.

Sahel region needs help, not foreign interference, to fight terror: Algerian PM
(Xinhua)
(North Africa) Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said Sunday that the countries
of Sahel region are in need of development and assistance, rather than foreign
interference, to fight terrorism, state-run APS news agency reported.

Voters in Ivory Coast Choosing New President (Voice of America)

(Ivory Coast) Voters in Ivory Coast are choosing a new president in a long-delayed poll
that is meant to reunite the country eight years after the start of civil war.

Niger votes on new constitution after coup (Associated Press)

(Niger) Voters weighed in on a new constitution Sunday that would impose
presidential term limits and pardon members of a military junta that seized power
earlier this year in the desperately poor West African nation long plagued by coups.

Tanzania President Fights for Second Term (Associated Press)

(Tanzania) Tanzania's ruling party, which has been in power for close to half a century,
faces an energized opposition in national elections Sunday following corruption
scandals that have undermined the government's popularity.

Serengeti Road Plan Offers Prospects and Fears (New York Times)
(Tanzania) Tanzania’s president, Jakaya Kikwete, plans to build a national highway
straight through the Serengeti park, bisecting the migration route and possibly sending
a thick stream of overloaded trucks and speeding buses through the traveling herds of
the Great Migration.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Somalia: UN envoy calls on new prime minister to form government
 Long-awaited Ivorian polls off to good start, says UN envoy
 UN envoy condemns execution of Somali women accused of spying
 UN shuts down camps in Zambia after Congolese refugees go home
 UNICEF rolls out innovative way to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission
in Kenya
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UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST:

WHEN/WHERE: Tuesday, November 2, 2:30 p.m.; U.S. Institute of Peace

WHAT: Guinea: Challenges and Prospects for a Democratic Transition
WHO: Ambassador Jendayi Frazier, Chair, Distinguished Public Service Professor and
former Asst. Secretary of State of African Affairs, Carnegie Mellon University; Dr.
Lansiné Kaba, Speaker, Professor, Carnegie Mellon University; William Fitzgerald,
Speaker, Deputy Asst. Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. State Department;
Dorina Bekoe, Opening Remarks, Senior Research Associate (Africa), U.S. Institute of
Peace
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/guinea-challenges-and-prospects-democratic-
transition

WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, November 3, 12:30 p.m.; Johns Hopkins School of

Advanced International Studies
WHAT: Pulling Nigeria from the Brink
WHO: Tunde Bakare, convener for the Save Nigeria Group
Info: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/calendar/
WHEN/WHERE: Wednesday, November 3, 4:30 p.m.; Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies
WHAT: The Nigeria Petroleum Industry Bill: Industry Perspectives and Regulatory
Challenges
WHO: Paul Arinze, general manager of British Gas Nigeria; Alexandra Gillies, research
associate at Revenue Watch Institute; Charles McPherson, tax policy adviser at the
International Monetary Fund; Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), executive director of
the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC); Uche Igwe, representative for
Shell Nigeria; Basil Omiyi, former country chair of Shell Nigeria and senior adviser to
Shell; and Peter Lewis (moderator), director of the SAIS African Studies Program
Info: http://www.sais-jhu.edu/calendar/

WHEN/WHERE: Friday, November 5, 9:30 a.m.; U.S. Institute of Peace

WHAT: Women in War Conference: The Trouble with the Congo
WHO: Severine Autesserre, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Barnard College,
Columbia University; Raymond Gilpin, Associate Vice President, Sustainable
Economies, Centers of Innovation, U.S. Institute of Peace; Christine Karumba, Women
for Women International; Howard Wolpe, Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars; Diane Orentlicher, Deputy Director, Office of War Crimes, U.S. Department of
State
Info: http://www.usip.org/events/woman-and-war
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FULL ARTICLE TEXT

'United States healthcare funding to Africa trippled under Obama' (Afrique en Ligne)

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The US has nearly tripled its health care funding to Africa,
helping to increase the number of people receiving the life-prolonging Anti-Retroviral
Drugs (ARVs) from 700,000 to 2.5 million people, a senior US official said. Visiting
White House Health Policy Adviser, Ezekiel Emanuel, said President Barack Obama's
commitment to health financing in Africa had so far helped to increase the number of
people receiving ARVs since the President came to power in 2009.

'There have been substantial attacks against President Obama. But those spread ing
these negative comments are mostly non-governmental organizations. He is
unwavering in his commitment to increase US healthcare funding to Africa. He is not
politically popular for this in the US, but those saying US funding is reducing are
wrong,' the official said.

The US has increased its healthcare financing to 2.4 times its levels under President
George W. Bush, while also announcing fresh commitments to the Global Fund for
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The US has committed US$ 4 billion, which is a 38 per cent increase in funding. The
fund has been lamenting the possibility of funding cuts, unless new pledges were made
to its kitty.

Emanuel said the US was currently contributing 58 per cent of the ARVs financed under
the Global Fund.

'There is criticism that we are rolling back but these allegations have no factual basis.
We had 700,000 on ARVs, we raised this to 1.8 million and now, we have 2.5 million.
We are enrolling at least 10,000 every month,' he told journalists Thursday.

Emanuel is visiting Ethiopia to assess progress made in the implementation of

programmes financed by the US under its newly-launched Global Health Initiative,
which aims to help most poor African nations to fight common diseases on the
continent.

Ethiopia is receiving US$ 400 million under this project.

Praising Ethiopia's progress in fighting malaria, he said effective implementation of

malaria control measures shows that African nations could severely cut malaria deaths,
if proper healthcare reforms were implemented.

Meanwhile, the US has played down criticism that aid was being used to obtain
political results. According to him, the US was more careful with the implementation of
its healthc are funding, to ensure that they were not being used to obtain results
favouring the objectives of the national governments that receive them.

'We have to be careful so we do not allow our assistance to be manipulated to achieve

political advantages by the ruling party. We are here to improve the healthcare of
Ethiopians,' he said, adding that.the US was spending money to finance healthcare
projects, to regimes, such as Zimbabwe. 'We do provide health services to regimes you
do not like,' he asserted.
--------------------
Inside the White House conference call on child soldiers (Foreign Policy)

The White House spent an hour Friday afternoon trying to convince angry Hill staffers
and human rights activists that "naming and shaming" governments that recruit child
soldiers, rather than imposing Congressionally-mandated sanctions on them, will better
address the problem. But advocacy leaders are upset with the administration and
rejected top White House officials' contention that removing sanctions against four
troubled states will be a positive move.

The White House began a conference call on the issue Friday afternoon by apologizing
to the NGO and Hill community for the decision's botched rollout, which was
announced only through a short official presidential memorandum on Monday and
then reported on by The Cable on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The call was off
the record and not for press purposes, but a recording was made available to The Cable.

"This is a call that should have happened before you read about the administration's
child soldiers' posture in the newspaper," said Samantha Power, the National Security
Council's senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights. "Given the way you
all heard about the implementation of the statute, I can understand why some of the
reactions that you had were prevalent."

Power defended the president's decision to waive penalties under the Child Soldiers
Prevention Act of 2008, which was set to go into effect this month, for Chad, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan, and Yemen. She argued that
identifying these countries as violators while giving them one more year to stop
recruiting underage troops would help make progress.

"Our judgment was brand them, name them, shame them, and then try to leverage
assistance in a fashion to make this work," said Power, adding that this was the first
year the Obama administration had to make a decision on this issue, so they want to
give the violator countries one more year to show progress.

"In year one to just say we're out of here, best of luck, we wish you well... Our judgment
is we'll work from inside the tent."

But Hill staffers and advocacy leaders on the call weren't buying what Power was
selling. They were upset that they learned about the decision via The Cable, and
challenged Power on each point that she made.

For example, Jo Becker, advocacy director for the children's rights division at Human
Rights Watch, pointed out that the law was passed two years ago.

"The law was enacted in 2008, so countries have had two years to know that this was
coming down the pike," she said. "So the consequences of the law really shouldn't be
taking anyone by surprise, so to say countries need a year to get their act together is
really problematic."

She also disputed Power's contention on the call that "there's evidence that our
diplomatic engagement and this military assistance has resulted in some changes."

"The U.S. has been providing training for years already with no real change on the
ground," said Becker. "We haven't seen significant changes in practice so far from the
engagement approach, so that seems to indicate to me we need to change the approach,
maybe withholding programs until we see changes on the ground."
"I think the logic of engagement is something reasonable people can disagree on,"
Power responded. "There's probably empirical evidence on both sides."

Advocates on the call did acknowledge Chad's efforts on child soldier demobilization,
but lamented that little or no progress has been seen in the DRC or with South Sudan's
Southern People's Liberation Army (SPLA). But they wanted to know: If the
administration believes that the threat of the sanctions has caused progress, then how
does removing that threat keep the pressure on?

"Why remove that leverage now when we've seen it's been so valuable?" asked Scott
Stedjan, senior policy advisor at Oxfam America

Jesse Eaves, policy advisor for children in crisis at World Vision, was one of several on
the call to wonder why the administration decided to waive all sanctions, rather than
using a part of the law that allows the continuation of military assistance to violator
countries, along as that assistance goes toward military professionalization.

"Naming and shaming has not worked," he said. "You can give support under the law.
Much of the aid that's even discussed in the justification memo that many of us have
seen can still be given to these countries if they show a reasonable attempt to
demobilize child soldiers."

Overall, Power wanted to point out that the administration is still intent on fighting the
use of child soldiers and that waiving the sanctions doesn't mean that all pressures will
stop. She promised that if these countries don't shape up, the administration will take a
tougher line when reevaluating the sanctions next year.
Power repeatedly attempted to argue that the attention over the president's decision to
waive sanctions was exactly the kind of public pressure needed to spur violator
governments to change. However, her argument was complicated by the fact that the
administration failed to tell anyone about the decision and announced it with no rollout
or explanation whatsoever.

"I do think there's something different between what happened in 2008 [when the law
passed] versus actually being named this week," she said. "And we're already seeing
out in the field via our embassies a huge amount of discomfort and angst on the part of
those countries about being branded in this way."

Power said at the end of the call that the administration plans to capitalize on the fallout
from its decision. She said that the administration planned on "[u]sing the attention
from this moment and the leverage of having abstained from having put the sanctions
in effect right now and saying... ‘You're not going to get so lucky next time if we don't
see some progress.'"
Overall, the call showed that the White House realized it botched the rollout of the
decision but is standing by the decision itself. Next, they will have to defend it on
Capitol Hill, where staffers are set to receive a special briefing on the issue next week.

"I think it's unfortunate that the NGO community and those in Congress who wrote the
law were not involved in its implementation," said Kody Kness, an aide to Sen. Sam
Brownback (R-KS), one of the lead sponsors of the law. "I think that's a missed
opportunity."
--------------------
Midterm elections could give a boost to Africa – if the Democrats lose (Christian
Science Monitor)

For Africa, an Obama presidency has been a disappointment. Rather than pay attention
to the sub-Saharan because of his Kenyan heritage, Barack Obama has gone the other
way: giving less attention to Africa than any other region of the world. Partly Obama’s
inattention to African affairs reflects the crises of his presidency. Urgent problems are
elsewhere. But the situation may be about to change and because of an unlikely reason:
the defeat of Obama’s Democratic Party allies in Congress.

Next Tuesday’s polls could deliver a big setback to Obama: loss of control by the
Democrats of at least one house of Congress. With the Republicans back in command,
Obama will face new pressure on his administration to intervene directly in African
affairs, and in ways the president has so far avoided.

A glimpse of the future direction of U.S. policy towards Africa can be seen by looking
backwards – to the policies of former President George Bush. For complex reasons, the
Bush administration engineered an increase in financial assistance to Africa, chiefly in
the form of an enormous outlay – an estimated $80 billion over 10 years – to cover the
cost of treating Africans with HIV/AIDS. In addition, President Bush engineered a
peace deal in Sudan that effectively brought an end to one of the region’s oldest civil
wars.

Much of the impetus for Bush’s activism in Africa came from the Christian right, which
saw the Sudanese conflict through the prism of religious freedom; the conflict to
Republicans was between a militant Islam and a persecuted Christian minority.
Evangelicals flocked to the defense of south Sudan and, even now, are among the
loudest advocates for legal partition of the country – and a more muscular U.S. role in
overseeing a planned election next year that could lead to the creation of Africa’s
newest nation.

Obama’s studied restraint towards African issues has permitted him to ignore the
liberal wing of his own Democratic party, which would like his administration to push
Sudan on the thorny question of the Darfur region as well as the country’s Christian
south. With Republicans in control of the House, for instance, pressure for dramatic
action will grow.

Nigeria is another large, troubled country that Obama has essentially ignored but his
critics say he has done so to the detriment of long-term U.S. interests. Nigeria is the fifth
largest source of foreign oil for the U.S., and the country of origin for the largest group
of African immigrants in America. As most populous country in Africa, Nigeria has an
economic weight that warrants American attention. But the country also contains the
largest number of Muslims in any African country. And one of those Muslims last
December was caught trying to blow up a plane, raising the profile of militant Islamic
groups in Nigeria – and their potential connections with anti-American factions
throughout the Muslim world.

President Obama has done little thinking about how to support the progessive in
Nigeria. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has repeatedly warned that Nigeria’s
government is dangerously derelict, but she’s offered no concrete proposals on aiding
the country, whose presidential election is only months away.

Thus, the possibility exists that Obama will face two African crises – in Sudan and
Nigeria – and a Congress who wants his administration to take an active role in
engaging the continent. Africans, frustrated privately with the president’s lack of
attention to their region, likely will welcome a new approach, even if the approach
comes in the wake of Obama’s political retreat.
--------------------
Al-Qaida rising in Africa, experts warn (UPI)

LONDON - Control over several North African states teeming with al-Qaida affiliates is
slipping away from authorities, an official warned.

Niger, Mali, and Mauritania are under a growing threat from al-Qaida operatives
targeting Western workers. The Somalia government, meanwhile, is struggling to
expand its control as al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida affiliate, tries to impose an Islamic state in
the country.

Amadou Marou, president of Niger's National Consultative Council, told European

leaders that al-Qaida could be gaining control in parts of the region.

"Somalia got away from us," he was quoted by London's Telegraph newspaper as
saying, "and northern Mali is in the process of getting away from us."

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, the North African branch of al-Qaida, kidnapped five
French nationals last month. An American aid worker, meanwhile, was killed by al-
Qaida guerrillas last year.
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a U.S. counter-terrorism expert, told the Telegraph that it was
obvious something needed to be done in North African, "but it isn't obvious how to do
what needs doing."

Washington has admitted to helping Yemen deal with al-Qaida in the Arabian
Peninsula, the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida, but denied playing a military role in the
country.

AQAP allegedly played a role in a failed attack on a passenger plane bound for Detroit
last year and authorities Friday said they believed a suspected explosive device was
discovered on a cargo plane from Yemen.
--------------------
Sahel region needs help, not foreign interference, to fight terror: Algerian PM
(Xinhua)

ALGIERS - Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia said Sunday that the countries of
Sahel region are in need of development and assistance, rather than foreign
interference, to fight terrorism, state-run APS news agency reported.

"We are telling our friends from the world that Sahel countries need support and
respect," the Algerian premier told reporters. " As long as there is no development (in
the region), security would remain fragile."

Al-Qaida's North African wing has been seen actively working through the porous
borders of the Sahel countries.

Algeria has already hosted a series of meetings of top intelligence and military officials
of the Sub-Sahara countries to discuss a joint strategy for combating the terrorist
network's branch in the region, al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

The Sahel states need "means or funds to develop the administration of the northern
regions...and strengthen their security forces," he added.

They "do not need foreign deployment," he said.

The Algerian prime minister went on to say that any foreign military interference in the
region would even make the situation worse.

"If we have a western presence in the region, they (the terrorists) would turn into
mujahideen (holy warriors), and this would eventually lead to turning the region to an
inferno with the best intentions of the world."

The AQIM insurgents drew international focus when they kidnapped a number of
Westerners last year and used them as a bargain tool to see their demands met.
On Sept. 15, AQIM claimed responsibility for kidnapping five French and two African
workers in northern Niger.

The group in July said it killed 78-year-old French hostage Michel Germaneau, who was
kidnapped in Niger in April, in retaliation for the killing of six of its members in a raid
by Mauritanian troops supported by French military forces that aimed to free him.

They also killed a British national they kidnapped on the border between Niger and
Mali and claimed responsibility for killing a U.S. aid worker in Nouakchott last June.

The militants also threatened to kill a French man they held hostage on Nov. 25 before
letting him go in February only after the Malian government freed four al-Qaida
militants whose release was set by their comrades as a condition in return for sparing
the hostage's life.

Algeria has been facing an increasing threat by Islamist militants since 1990s, and
security forces have recently stepped up military operations against pro-al-Qaida
groups.
--------------------
Voters in Ivory Coast Choosing New President (Voice of America)

Voters in Ivory Coast are choosing a new president in a long-delayed poll that is meant
to reunite the country eight years after the start of civil war.

Many polling stations in Abidjan opened late, with long lines of increasingly-agitated
voters pushing against gates guarded by members of a special security force.

Former Ghanaian President John Kufour is an observer for this poll. He came to the
Djibi 3 primary school to see how voting was going. But three hours after polling was
to begin, nothing had happened because the electoral commission representative was
late.

"I have an uneasy feeling," Mr. Kufour said. "The crowd is getting restive. I do not
understand why it is taking so long. People who are put in charge should do their work
responsibly for the good of the public."

Crowds in Ivory Coast take part in campaigning ahead of Sunday's presidential

election.
Voting eventually got under way, and once the gates opened and lines reformed inside
the compound, the process appeared to run smoothly. Voters had their electoral cards
checked against the voter roll. Each person got a long paper ballot with fourteen
candidate names, photos, and symbols which they marked behind a white cardboard
partition before dropping in a clear plastic box.
Voters then signed the registry to show they had cast their ballot and dipped their
finger in purple ink to prevent them from voting again.

Election observer John Stremlau is the vice president for peace programs at the Carter
Center.

"We are concerned about the delay in opening," he said. "That should not happen. But
it does happen from time to time. It is too early, as the president said, to draw any
general conclusions, but we have had an exposure now that does merit some attention
because people deserve to get their vote counted properly."

This is the first Ivory Coast election in wjhich more women are registered to vote than
men.

Minata Ouattara says she voted for former prime minister Alassane Ouattara.

She says Ouattara is the right man for the situation and has the solutions to solve the
country's problems, because he has many programs specifically targeting women
including free maternity care which will benefit both women and their children.

Agnes Brou says she voted for former president Henri Konan Bedie.

Brou says Bedie truly has the qualities to be the head of state. When he was president,
Brou says, there were more jobs for everyone. Bedie came to power following the death
of Ivory Coast's founding father Felix Houphouet-Boigny in 1993. But he was toppled
in a military coup six years later, so Brou says he did not finish the work he began.

Agnes Ossiry says she voted to re-elect President Laurent Gbagbo.

Ossiry says of all the candidates, President Gbagbo is the best. In the past eight years of
crisis, civil servants were still paid their salaries despite all the problems. That, she
says, is truly an exemplary president. He is the best candidate.

Results from more than 20,000 polling stations are expected within three days. If no one
wins an outright majority in this first round, there will be a second-round runoff
between the top two finishers.
--------------------
Niger votes on new constitution after coup (Associated Press)

NIAMEY, Niger – Voters weighed in on a new constitution Sunday that would impose
presidential term limits and pardon members of a military junta that seized power
earlier this year in the desperately poor West African nation long plagued by coups.
Voting opened as scheduled in the country's capital Sunday morning, and the first half
of the day went smoothly.

Critics, though, say the proposed constitution is unlikely to increase political stability in
Niger even if it is approved in Sunday's referendum. Niger has a long tradition of
strongmen seizing power by force since independence from France a half century ago.

President Mamadou Tandja was deposed last February in a military coup after he
stayed in office months beyond his legal mandate. Uniformed men stormed the
presidential palace and kidnapped Tandja, who still remains under house arrest months
later.

While the coup leaders said they had taken control in order to restore democratic rule in
the desert West African country, they have followed a familiar pattern of infighting.
Earlier this month, the ruling council removed and arrested four top leaders and
charged them with plotting a coup.

Junta chief Gen. Djibou Salou had promised to hold elections before the end of the year,
but the date of the proposed vote has since been pushed back several times.

Moussa Tchangari, head of a civil association in Niger, called the new constitution a
positive step but he said he's not convinced it will end Niger's political turmoil.

"This is not the last coup d'etat," Tchangari said. "That's for sure. There are other
military men who are hungry for power. When they have the opportunity to take
power, they'll grab it."

Others like Souley Adji, a political professor at the University of Niamey, say the
constitution would be an important step forward.

"It's a new era of democracy," Adji said. "The people must know that there is a change
and that this change comes from the people themselves."

The 187-article document includes what could be seen as direct swipes at Tandja, the
deposed president. The original draft of the new constitution required presidential
candidates to be between the ages of 35 and 70 and limited candidates to two
presidential terms of five years.

Tandja, 72, pushed through a constitution last year that removed term limits. The
proposed constitution was recently amended to remove the age ceiling.

The United Nations Human Development index, a global ranking of countries based on
education, poverty, and security, ranked Niger in last place three out of the last four
years. The country has few resources, except for uranium.
In August, aid officials said Niger was facing the worst hunger crisis in its history, with
almost half the country's population in desperate need of food and up to one in six
children suffering from acute malnutrition.

"It's a struggle for survival. For most people, politics is a luxury," said William Miles, a
professor of political science at Northeastern University who has lived in Niger and
written extensively on the region.
--------------------
Tanzania President Fights for Second Term (Associated Press)

ARUSHA, Tanzania—Tanzania's ruling party, which has been in power for close to half
a century, faces an energized opposition in national elections Sunday following
corruption scandals that have undermined the government's popularity.

Opinion polls suggest Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete is still likely to win re-
election, though one survey showed his opponent leading though not by enough to
avoid a runoff vote. It's a departure from 2005, when Mr. Kikwete won more than 80%
of ballots cast.

He now faces first-time contender Wilbrod Slaa of the main opposition Party of
Democracy and Development, known by its Kiswahili acronym, Chadema.

The governing Revolutionary Party, known by its Kiswahili abbreviation, CCM, has
governed Tanzania since the country gained independence from Britain in 1961. "We
can see in Arusha different party flags flying everywhere. This is a healthy
development. We are slowly adjusting to believe in other parties other than CCM," said
Mary Lwoga, a 28-year-old fruit vendor and mother of five children.

Mr. Kikwete and the governing party are seeking a new mandate to improve and
expand infrastructure, increase foreign investment and fund and expand health
programs. But Mr. Kikwete is also fighting perceptions that under his watch high-level
corruption has increased. The president has said he doesn't tolerate corruption.

A 2008 independent audit by an international firm found the central bank had paid out
more than $120 million to 22 local firms, many of which were shell companies that are
legally registered but didn't transact any business.

Mr. Kikwete fired the governor of the central bank at the time. The other scam saw a
parliamentary committee report that Tanzania signed a $172.5 million contract with a
ghost U.S.-based company to supply emergency power generators to help the country
cope with 2006 power shortages. The committee found the company didn't exist and the
generators came late or not at all. The prime minister and two other cabinet ministers
resigned following the 2008 parliamentary report.
Also up for grabs in Sunday's election are the presidency and regional assembly seats of
the semiautonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, which in the past has witnessed violence
between rival political parties that has killed dozens before and after elections.

So far, Zanzibar is experiencing a rare peace during this election season because an
August referendum brought down tensions when two-thirds of voters favored parties
forming a coalition government after this month's elections,

Tanzania has consistently recorded high economic growth rates in recent years,
registering an average rate of 7.3% between 2004 and 2008, according to the
International Monetary Fund. It has become the largest producer of gold on the
continent, is rich in diamonds and has significant natural-gas reserves.

But still the average Tanzanian remains poor, with the IMF projecting the country's
annual average income for 2010 will be $480.

Political scientist Mwesiga Baregu thinks neither Mr. Kikwete nor CCM can change
Tanzania and address its problems because they have become complacent. "The country
needs a complete overhaul of leadership to lift the country out of rampant poverty and
economic underdevelopment," said Mr. Baregu, who teaches at St. Augustine
University in Tanzania.
--------------------
Serengeti Road Plan Offers Prospects and Fears (New York Times)

SERENGETI NATIONAL PARK, Tanzania — Every spring, out here on this endless
sheet of yellow grass, two million wildebeest, zebras, gazelles and other grazers march
north in search of greener pastures, with lions and hyenas stalking them and vultures
circling above.

Maasai with goats along the dirt track. Conservationists fear that if the track becomes a
highway, it will disrupt animal migrations and play havoc with the ecosystem.

It is called the Great Migration, and it is widely considered one of the most spectacular
assemblies of animal life on the planet.

But how much longer it will stay that way is another matter. Tanzania’s president,
Jakaya Kikwete, plans to build a national highway straight through the Serengeti park,
bisecting the migration route and possibly sending a thick stream of overloaded trucks
and speeding buses through the traveling herds.

Scientists and conservation groups paint a grim picture of what could happen next: rare
animals like rhinos getting knocked down as roadkill; fences going up; invasive seeds
sticking to car tires and being spread throughout the park; the migration getting
blocked and the entire ecosystem becoming irreversibly damaged.

“The Serengeti ecosystem is one of the wonders of the planet,” said Anne Pusey, an
evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University. “It must be preserved.”

But it is election time in Tanzania, one of the poorest countries in the world, and Mr.
Kikwete is embroiled in what political analysts say is the feistiest presidential race this
country has seen. Few things symbolize progress better than a road; this road in
particular, which will connect marginalized areas of northern Tanzania, has been one of
Mr. Kikwete’s campaign promises.

“The decision’s been made,” said Salvator Rweyemamu, the president’s spokesman. “If
this government comes back into power — and we will — the road will be built.”

He said Tanzania had done more to protect wildlife than most countries, and he added,
with clear frustration at outsiders, that “you guys always talk about animals, but we
need to think about people.”

Hundreds of thousands of people here depend on tourism for a living. And the
Serengeti is like a giant A.T.M. for Tanzania, attracting more than 100,000 visitors each
year, producing millions of dollars in park fees and helping drive Tanzania’s billion-
dollar safari business, an economic pillar. “If anything bad happens to the Serengeti,”
said Charles Ngereza, a Tanzanian tour operator, “we’re finished.”

Most Tanzanians scrape by on the equivalent of a few dollars a day, so economic

development is a pressing issue in the election, scheduled for Sunday. But corruption is
a growing — and related — concern.

Mr. Kikwete’s ruling party has been widely accused of siphoning millions of dollars out
of the treasury by awarding contracts to ghost companies. Perhaps no one in the
campaign has better channeled voters’ frustrations over being poor while the ruling
class is getting rich than Willibrod Slaa, a former Roman Catholic priest and legislator
who has crusaded against corruption for years and is now running for president, along
with five other challengers.

Tanzania’s government is not accustomed to upstarts. The governing party, the Party of
the Revolution, was formed in the 1970s as a continuation of the Socialist-leaning
political party that brought Tanganyika independence in 1961, and it has dominated
Tanzanian politics ever since.

But the government now seems to be worried. It recently threatened to close

independent newspapers, and Mr. Kikwete refused to debate Mr. Slaa on television,
sending his campaign manager instead. The government is also delaying opening
universities until after the election, which means many students will not be able to vote
and will be scattered across the country, not concentrated on campuses, should there be
any trouble.

Mr. Kikwete’s green guards, the governing party’s youth wing, have attacked
journalists and opposition supporters. Tanzania’s police, who rarely confront civil
disobedience, have tear-gassed rowdy opposition rallies. This is one of the few African
countries that has escaped civil war and ethnic violence, but some Tanzanians now
wonder if their tradition of harmony will be tarnished.

“There’s no way this government can win this election in a clean shot,” said Azaveli
Lwaitama, a political analyst at the University of Dar es Salaam, who predicted vote-
rigging and possibly turmoil. “The masses are discontented. They’re seething for
change.”

That may be true in the towns, but in rural areas, where most Tanzanians live, the
president still has plenty of support. In Engare Sero, a village of 6,000 people, mostly
Maasai herders, just about everyone interviewed said they would vote for him.

Engare Sero lies along the proposed 300-mile highway route, already marked by red
paint on rocks. The only roads out here right now are spine-crunching gravel tracks.
People here not only want the highway, said chief Loshipa Sadira, “but we’ve been
praying for it for years.”

He rattled off the reasons: cheaper goods; getting to the hospital faster; being better
connected to towns; and having a higher chance of someday getting electricity and
cellphone service.

It is hard to argue with him. Mr. Loshipa and his family eke out a living herding cows
in what is essentially a desert. There are fertile grasslands nearby. But they are mostly
reserved for the animals. This policy goes back to colonial times, when Maasai were
summarily evicted from their lands for the sake of conservation. It has left many Maasai
destitute, with young men now converging in the towns to hustle tanzanite, a
semiprecious local stone, or to seek poor-paying jobs as night guards.

None of the leading conservation groups pressing Mr. Kikwete to reconsider say they
are trying to block the national highway altogether; they just oppose it running through
the Serengeti, which is a Unesco World Heritage site. Grass-roots groups are mobilizing
around the world, circulating petitions and setting up Web sites, like
savetheserengeti.org.

Mr. Kikwete recently promised that the roughly 30-mile stretch through the park would
not be tarmac but packed dirt, like the mainly tourist roads already in the park. But
conservation groups say any major road would allow poachers to quickly get in, shoot
the animals from the highway and get out.

Scientists say the ecological damage is very hard to predict but potentially enormous.
During the annual migration, the wildebeest produce more than 800,000 pounds of
dung — per day — which nourishes the grasslands. If the highway fragments that
migration and makes the wildebeest turn back, “the whole ecosystem could crash,” said
Bernard Kissui, a research scientist for the African Wildlife Foundation.

He spoke of a “cascading effect” on the lions, leopards, birds, plants, all interconnected
in an ecological web that has been relatively undisturbed for eons.

The World Bank looked into financing such a highway around 20 years ago and rejected
it, partly for environmental reasons. Western scientists have recently come up with an
alternative route south of the park, which they say will link up more towns and spare
the wildlife.

But the Tanzanian government is not biting. Tanzanian officials say that the original
route through the park is better, that construction will start soon and that if no donors
will pay the approximately half billion dollars for the road, they will build it
themselves.

“We are Tanzanians,” Mr. Rweyemamu said. “We know where the people are. The
research has been done.”
--------------------
UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

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